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Thursday, July 19, 2007

Happy Birthday to Us!

Two years ago, shortly after a hurricane threatened a clergywoman blogger somewhere on the Gulf Coast, a dozen or so bloggers began to realize they had become a community. That clergywoman suggested we needed a t-shirt, and in a thread that grew to more than 100 comments, the RevGalBlogPals were born. St. Casserole posed the question on July 19, 2005, and by July 21 we had opened a Cafe Press store for the t-shirts, then gone on to start a WebRing and blog page.

From the beginning our numbers included clergywomen, other women engaged in churchwork as both Christian Ed professionals and devoted volunteers, seminarians and women discerning vocations to Protestant ministry and Catholic sisterhood. We are happy to include men among our BlogPals, too. For some of us faith is the primary focus of our blogging, while for others it is the quiet underpinning of all we do and blog. We are preachers, mothers, poets, fathers, artists, dog-lovers, cat-bloggers, married and partnered and single. We live in the US, Canada, the U.K., Finland and Australia. Our denominations include, but are not limited to, PCUSA, ECUSA, UCC, UCCan, Roman Catholic, United Methodist, Baptists of various stripes, Church of England, AOG, RCA, ELCA, Independent Catholic, UFMCC and Disciples of Christ.

We have suffered growing pains along the way as our ring has grown to more than 300 members. From a group of a dozen who "knew" each other, though only online, we have forged new connections, said good-bye to bloggers who retired from online life and suffered with each other in loss and grief, as well as celebrating births, new calls to ministry and answers to prayer. There are many areas in which members would disagree, but we are all committed to the support of women in ordained Christian ministry.

In our second year, we achieved 501(c)3 status, the first step toward planning a face-to-face meeting, since we hope to attract grant money to keep expenses to a reasonable amount for members who will be able to attend.

In our third year we look forward to holding The Big Event!!! The dates have been chosen: Thursday, March 27 to Sunday, March 30, 2008. Watch the blog for more information soon about the location. When the Board of RGBP, Inc., met in person for the first time last week, we prayed earnestly for God's guidance as we take the next steps along the path of faith. We ask for your prayers, too, as planning for The Big Event continues.

Finally, I want to thank the many volunteers who make the blog, the corporation and the webring "run." Bless you all!

I'm headed out of town but hope you will use the comments to celebrate RevGalBlogPals on this Happy Birthday!!

62 comments:

  1. Well, Happy Birthday RevGalBlogPals! Thanks for the timeline, Songbird. Even though I am only two weeks old into the ring, I have found much joy in browsing member's blogs, playing Friday Five, thinking about questions posed. There is much humour, spiritual enrichment, and kind nurture...and I for one am grateful. It is an important online community. Thank you, and blessed birthday wishes--I am GLAD RevGalBlogPals was BORN!

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  2. Oh, blessed birth of community!

    On this day I celebrate the gift of this blog and all of you, for the gift you are in my life.

    I also give thanks for the Christian Century article, and its author, published last summer, for that is how I found RevGals and began my own journey of blogging.

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  3. Wow-What a blessing this blag has been for me and my ministry!
    Thanks to all who helped conceive and birth revgalblogpals.
    MANY happy returns!
    Shalom--

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  4. Goodness - are we really only 2? I find it hard to remember how things were before I knew you, my friends...
    I remember that someone needed to explain the concept of a "web ring" to me...and I still haven't bought the t shirt (maybe when I've shifted that extra 2 stone)...but I'm so glad we're here for each other, and bless the day that we got together.
    Happy Birthday everyone.
    Longing for some irls in March next year xxx

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  5. Happy Birthday, Ring!
    I have been blessed by those here and those now silent. The fellowship has been so very valuable to my journey and the friendships made are beyond worth.
    May God continue to bless this ministry!

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  6. Happy birthday, ladies. Feels a little bittersweet. I love this ring, and I can't tell you how many times it's felt like a blessing from God to me. But it's hard to celebrate community in a week when someone was asked to leave.

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  7. I can hardly believe it's been two years! I look forward to coming here every day and seeing what all is going on in the lives of my fellow bloggers. Speaking as a lay person, it's been quite something to get a peek behind the scenes (as it were) and it makes me all the more grateful for the hardwork and dedication of the pastoral staff that runs the non-denom church that I attend.

    Happy Birthday everyone!

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  8. OMG "blag" instead of "blog"!
    SORRY--teh Clooney is alive and well on this our birthday!
    How about a another shirt celebrating 300 + members or something?!

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  9. It would be impossible for me to describe just what this group has meant to me. I feel so blessed to be part of it from the beginning. Sort of like one of the dozen or so midwives.

    Happy Birthday to us!

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  10. ~throwing confetti around~

    Happy Birthday to the RGBP's!

    I wonder what God has in store for us next?

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  11. A tip of the hat to RGBP. I am delighted that I found you. Writing my sermon, aware of the community of the sisterhood doing the same thing, is such a wonderful feeling. All of you who gathered on behalf of us all, thanks.

    And Songbird, the case of my friend was dismissed for lack of evidence. Thanks be to God.

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  12. There are many areas in which members would disagree, but we are all committed to the support of women in ordained Christian ministry.

    In view of this powerfully true statement, I would respectfully request that the RevGal leadership reconsider its request to ask Kate to leave.

    I have loved being a part of this group. I ask us to model an open table, across boundaries that may feel difficult to bridge. On a week when many of us heard/ preached about the Good Samaritan, isn't it ironic that a door to community was closed in this way?

    Peace and Love,

    Mags

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  13. With love and respect for all of us, decision-makers and otherwise, I would like to second Mags's request. Please reconsider and invite Kate to join us in this anniversary celebration.

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  14. Happy Birthday for RGBp!!!

    What an exciting day for a very special group of folks. Blessings upon all of you who read this!

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  15. I hear teh clooney is here offering free manicures and pedicures in celebration of 2nd birthday.

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  16. Okay, in honor of the birthday, I bestow upon you the Girl Scout Birthday song of my youth!!!

    It makes me think of the good old days
    Happy birthday to you
    You sure grew out of your baby ways
    Happy birthday to you
    Second birthday, wish you many more
    Health and wealth and friends by the score,
    So cut the cake and we'll have some more
    Happy birthday to you!

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  17. My association with RGBP is a daily joy. I can't wait to see how many of you I get to meet next spring! Happy Birthday RGBP!

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  18. I have only found you all recently, but I enjoy the discourse, humor, nurturing and not so much as an "I told you so" but lots of support. I regret that I have not been in this world before now, but Cheers! I look forward the ride into the future. One thing that all of the faces here share is a genuine desire to walk in faith and service in whatever God may direct. Blessings on the journey forward.

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  19. QG,
    Could you post the "RGBP Solidarity Cake" recipe?

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  20. a p.s. to my birthday blessings, I would like to respectfully echo the sentiments of mags, mrs.m, and pastor anonymous.

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  21. Cake, definitely. And bubbly. Who's got teh bubbly?

    Did I hear somebody was firing up the Jacuzzi?

    I expect teh Clooney at any moment! (Or is he getting busy with Cathy's mani/pedi?)

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  22. Actually Cheesehead, he is in the middle of the double do ya mani/pedi - several of the RGBPers have asked for some cool drinks -- and I hear the bubbling of the jack oozi.

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  23. It's a Party!

    Happy Anniversary to us!

    I love the RevGalBlogPals!

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  24. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  25. After reading Kate's blogs, and listening to several other's objections, I question the wisdom in asking Kate to leave. We are not a Church with all the concomitant expectations as to what creeds or disciplines we adhere to.

    What I see in Kate is a person who is struggling with God's love and her love for God and others. We all do that at some level. I am unwillinging to demand some kind of allegance.

    If the posts of a colleague were to be abusive, or alarming, then yes, a person must be blocked. But I am so tired of the Church thinking it has a window into clergy's bedrooms. Please don't carry this fight into Revgals. The over all worth of the blog is too important for us to devolve into this kind of exclusion

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  26. Happy birthday! Being in a double minority (male and layperson), I'm proud to be a part of the RGBP!

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  27. Happy B'day ... and many more. I'm so blessed to be in community with you all ... many thanks to you ladies who began this ministry and to all who help it continue.

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  28. Happy Birthday, RGBP! I'm so glad I found y'all!

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  29. I don't think one can fairly call this conversation a "catfight." We are women (and our pals) of faith and principle trying to figure out how to live in community when there is a difference of opinion. (Sort of like every church I have served!)

    RevGal leadership, I await with hope the elucidation requested. Please believe that I seek not to sow division but to help us live together more fully.

    Peace,

    Mags

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  30. And, just in case this has been lost in the process:

    I am deeply, deeply grateful for the community I have found here... for the sisters and brothers who are struggling to live into their faith just as I am. Happy birthday indeed! And many more years of joyous community.

    Peace,

    Mags

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  31. Happy birthday to the RevGals! And many thanks to everyone who began the ring and works so hard to keep it running, especially the Matriarchs and the board.

    This is a bittersweet and ironic day and occasion. I love this community so much, and am so incredibly grateful for how it has changed my life and opened up opportunities for ministry and community which are so lacking in my own prophetic and marginal status as an Independent Catholic bishop...

    And, like others, I am also heartbroken and shocked at Kate's expulsion from the community because of her sexual minority status. And especially at the fact that it was done secretly rather than being announced or explained so most people didn't even know it happened--or why--or who might be the next to be deemed disruptive while fitting the membership guidelines and without ever making a hurtful comment to or about anyone, on her own blog or anyone else's.

    For those that don't know what is being discussed I urge you to visit When I Was a Boy and read Kate Jones' posts yesterday and today about what happened to her. It no longer links off the main page of course, and I won't link to it here out of respect for the decision to remove her from the community but you can find it linked off of my blog, where I also wrote a post about my grief and requesting prayers and comments of support for my dear sister-friend.

    I am very grateful to all who have spoken out for and to Kate--as she pointed out in today's post, this would likely have broken her a month or two ago and she is stronger now--but it is still a traumatic rejection for one who so recently and courageously recommitted herself to the Christian church in the face of so much rejection for how God made her and whom she loves.

    I would second the comments of Mags, Mrs. M and Karlassi respectfully requesting--in fact, humbly begging--that the board please reconsider their decision and celebrate this open table and wonderful community by inviting this holy, loving and searching Christian woman discerning her call to ministry back into it. And either way, that a clear public explanation be made of this case and what exactly constitutes disruption and grounds for dismissal--esp. as in Kate's case, without warning or negotiation/requests for alteration in content of concern. Tough decisions may have to be made at times and perhaps it is sometimes better if "one [woman] die for the sake of the people".... but transparency and honesty are key values in accord with what RGBP and everyone here are about, I think.

    Many thanks, and whatever happens please know how much I love and appreciate you all.

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  32. Just a Happy Birthday to us!
    from me.

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  33. Happy Birthday RevGals!!! I cannot express my gratitude for the many blessings this community brings to my life every day. Really. You're my peeps.

    (As an aside, it's my birthday today also ~ which makes remembering the RevGal birthday date really simple!)

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  34. Happy birthday Sue!
    (dern, I don't have a present for you... time to rush to the virtual store for a virtual present....)

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  35. Two years? Already?

    Aw, hell. Sign me up.

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  36. Happy Birthday! And you also have a Nazarene. :)

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  37. Rach, Rach, Rach!! ~applauds~

    Be sure to bring the TTOJ with you!!

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  38. Wow! The revgals are two today, and I am a Blogger for ONE YEAR, today! Happy Birtday, Us, and so glad to be a part of this wunderbar community.

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  39. Yay! Hooray!! Rach just signed up!! Woot!

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  40. I laughed in delight when I read all the acronyms listed in the posting ... RGBP, as a microcosm of the Church Universal, is truly the Church of the Holy Acronym. That title used to be applied to United Methodists ... but it really does apply to all of us, doesn't it?

    I am grateful for all of the members of this blog-ring, past and present. In some ways, it has become MY church, not one of the ones I preach at --but an online community of faith made up of peers, many of whom are engaged in several various common purposes ... but not all of whom are perfectly comfortable with one another.

    I am as queer as a football bat. [Duh.] Some of the RGBPs I imagine are rather uncomfortable with that, just as there's some of you with whom I am a tad uncomfortable because your theology appears to be more conservative than my own.

    Here's the good news --we don't have to be perfectly comfortable with one another, do we? Isn't our denominational and theological diversity inherent in the makeup of this blog-ring, just by the listing of the acronyms of the denominations of which we are a part? Am I "guilty by association" of being --Baptist-- because there are Baptists who are a part of this webring? [Not that there's anything wrong with being Baptist --that's just an arbitrary choice of a Christian tradition.]

    So much of what I enjoy about RGBP is the opportunity to glean from the experiences of my brothers and sisters who experience Christianity from the perspective of a wide variety of traditions. I don't expect that my membership in this webring means that all of the RGBPs condone my behaviors or agree with what I say ... nor does it mean that I have to condone theirs.

    If I don't like what you say, I don't have to read your blog. If you don't like what I say, you don't have to read mine. If you don't like the comments I make on your blog, you can either not post them or you can challenge them in a later comment of your own.

    I am so glad to see the disclaimer added to our blog ring which says that RGBP Inc and RGBP is not responsible for the content of any of our individual blogs. Many of you have a similar disclaimer on your individual blogs. The setting of that particular boundary gives us each a certain freedom, does it not? Why don't we take full advantage of that freedom, and continue in relationship with one another, to the degree that we are able?

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  41. Happy birthday RGBP'ers. I truly could not have gotten through the last two weeks without you.

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  42. Geez... 3 weeks. I guess time flies in hell. Whodathunk?

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  43. RACH!!!! You'll have to do 2 postings now on FRidays for sure now!!!! Woohoo!

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  44. Well put,will smama. I remember a time last year when RGBPs on three continents were praying for me.

    It made the difference between making it through and not.

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  45. Thanks, Pastor Anon, for the kind words...I am so glad that you are safe and not leaving us without your thoughtful interaction after all.

    And Happy Birthday Sue!

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  46. This is quite a group. I am so thankful for it.

    All right Rach!!!!!!!!!

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  47. I had been searching for a community lke this forever, but whenever I would google "women pastors" it would only show sites for pastor's wives or webpages devoted to why women shouldn't be pastors. So, I am grateful to the author of the article in the Christian Century last year for clueing me in on this webring.

    Happy Birthday, RevGalBlogPal! I don't know what I would do without all of my friends in the blogosphere!

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  48. Happy Birthday RGBP!

    Here's a quick song for us:

    This is your birthday song,
    it isn't very long ... hey!


    I've loved the community I've found here and can't wait for the Big Event :)

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  49. Happy birthday! sorry it's take me so long. within the larger community, there are also "small groups" developing, and I like that too. i have appreciated the welcome and look forward to continuing to get to know more of you.

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  50. Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday!

    I am glad that I have been part of this community too. Living and working in isolated parts of hinterland, you all have seen me through some very very rough times. I just can't believe its been that long.

    Happy Birthday, May there be many more good years to come.

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  51. Oh, my goodness! I guess it has been two years, hasn't it?

    What a wonderful gift, to have been a part of this faithful community.

    Happy birthday, indeed!

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  52. Happy Birthday to us all!!

    Maybe we should have regional get togethers since America is a little far for some of us (saying that I have just got back to the UK after 2 weeks in Florida!). Perhaps all the UK people could get together some time. Wow I would love that!

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  53. I am so glad to be a part of this community. I REMEMBER the t-shirt post! And I am so glad ya'll let me in as a friend!

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  54. Scog Blog,
    that's a good idea. I do so hope we can plan one that bring us over the pond.

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  55. Happy Birthday! I'm glad you all are out there!!!!

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  56. CONGRATULATIONS! From what I understand, you have just gotten big enough that women have some power, and now that they have the power to decide who is IN and who is OUT, they find out that they start behaving like the MEN they so despise, (but are, of course, too hypocritical to admit to it). Congratulations ladies. Let the legacy of spiritual violence continue. You claim to "welcome all" but even that is subject to an executive decision.

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